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Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Bill [HL]

I hope I paid due regard to the role of building societies, whatever their size, with regard to local communities, particularly those in which they originated. I have already made that comment. I am not gainsaying the value of that. I was going on to emphasise that they play their role through their own structures. I recognise the letter from Nationwide and the role it plays. It already has structures through which it can fulfil a great many of its objectives in those terms. With the national scheme, it has the opportunity to play its part at a local level. It is not denied the local-level position but it applies to a different distributor for that role. As I indicated, a large number of the overall priorities of the national scheme will accord well with what the building societies want to achieve—particularly the development of financial literacy—so it will be recognised that we think that the big mutuals will play their part at a local as well as a national level. I recognise the noble Lord’s point about the derivation of the institutions, but all banks were local once and the big banks, too, can play their part in localities through this framework if they wish to do so. I recognise that there are reservations and representations from some quarters but broadly the financial institutions will willingly participate in the scheme. It is a scheme that embraces two concepts, one of which is the local, for which we have made particular provision. I recognise the point that the noble Lord, Lord Naseby, made: any figure that we put in will have an arbitrary quality, and £7 billion is an arbitrary figure for small as opposed to large financial institutions. However, there are clearly three priorities to be achieved through the structure of the scheme, and the large institutions are well placed to play their part in its development in those terms. I think that this is the last that I have heard of this representation. I am pretty sure that, once again, the noble Baroness will emphasise that she may be withdrawing the amendment for now but there is still trouble to come. However, the trouble is ““sufficient unto the day”” for the moment, and I hope that she will withdraw her amendment.